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Shirley Halperin is an Executive Editor at Variety, where she spearheads music coverage for the print magazine and Variety.com.

Did you know that there is a law on the books in California that states a company cannot bind someone to a personal services agreement for longer than 7 calendar years - unless they are a RECORDING ARTIST?! That’s right, in 1987 the slimy, slippery, soulless major record labels successfully lobbied the California legislature to add an amendment to exempt recording artists from this law meant to protect people from long-term, predatory contracts. But finally, California might have a chance to right these historic wrongs with the new Bill AB-2926 (Kalra) that has been introduced.

The news that took over the entire world this past week was how Neil Young gave Spotify an ultimatum to either remove Joe Rogan’s podcast or Young would remove his music.  Why? Young said in an open letter to his...

Over the weekend, Spotify decided to do a major purge of songs they believe had 'fraudulent streams.' Tens of thousands of songs disappeared from the platform.

On Thursday, July 16th, in a brave act of solidarity and dissent against their employer, black musicians penned an open letter to the founder and leader of Postmodern Jukebox, Scott Bradlee.  Many posted this letter and subsequent demands to social...

#BlackOutTuesday and #TheShowMustBePaused day (started by two black female executives) encouraged everyone in the music industry to take the day off from the normal business at hand and reflect on how we, as an industry, can do better for...

Vulfpeck | Photo by Michelle ShiersYou’d be hard-pressed to find an act out today who has enjoyed as much success as Vulfpeck - without the assistance of a manager or a label. I’ve been following these funky trendsetters for the past four years or so and have seen them catapu...

Stefanie VinselIt’s funny how some venues consistently offer life-changing experiences. Maybe it’s the history of the room. Maybe it’s the quality of acts. Maybe it’s the sound system, the front of house engineer, the venue staff or the sight lines. Or maybe it’s just h...

I try to listen to The Daily podcast by the New York Times every day. Mostly I’ll put it on at the gym or in the car. I’m all about multi-tasking. Who has time to do just one, singular thing anymore?! The Daily is a really good, in-depth look at the top stories of the day. Of...

Music royalties and a deep dive into how to get your rightful share. Artists, songwriters, composers - this is everything you need to know about money in music.